Grant Thompson & Brad Kupsch

Streamlining production data capture

Challenge

Landmark Agronomist Grant Thompson consults to over 20 growers each year and needed a way to record key production information so that he could easily share it with both his growers and his merchandise managers.

Solution

Grant adopted the Agworld platform together with his growers in order to facilitate a collaborative process and flow of data.

Result

Starting from planning all the way through to harvesting, Grant now has all key information available when he needs it and is able to communicate this to key stakeholders. Growers know exactly when they need to do to grow their crop successfully while the merchandise managers can ensure adequate supply of product.

App-based connection eases time pressures for farmers

One of Western Australia’s leading agronomists is generating serious efficiencies for his grain-growing clients through the capture and use of data for crop planning, protection, nutrition and management.

Geraldton-based Landmark agronomist Grant Thompson was an early adopter of the Agworld application (App) platform, noting its time-saving potential for recording key production information and advice in the paddock in real-time for immediate sharing.

“Farmers rely on my recommendations, received directly on their mobile device (or computer) via the Agworld App, about fertiliser use, what fungicides or insecticides are needed, application rates and other management issues.

“They can carry on with what they are doing and our head office in Geraldton, which also receives this information from me in the paddock, can batch-up necessary products and arrange delivery to their farm that day.

“All of us are able to more efficiently manage our time, streamline our operations and keep businesses rolling.”

Mr Thompson said the recommendations he sent to his farmer clients through the Agworld App were converted to ‘actual’ actions in the system when adopted, underpinning the ability to analyse agronomy decisions at the end of the year and plan for the following year.

During this summer, he will be preparing 2017 cropping plans with his 20 clients networked through the Agworld App. The system will also be used for another 50-60 cropping plans for other Landmark clients around the Geraldton region.

Mr Thompson said the platform allowed advisers and farmers to closely track what was actually happening in the paddock and the financial spend on that paddock.

He said this allowed inputs to be tailored to specific areas of need, down to the nearest hectare and kilogram of product needed, which meant no wastage.

Dongara grain and livestock producer Brad Kupsch has been using the Agworld App on his smart phone for several years and said it was a great time-saver that freed him up to do other tasks while Mr Thompson - his agronomist - concentrated on monitoring his crop growth and protection.

He farms a total 7500ha with his parents Peter and Celine in a predominantly sandplain area that is cropped with wheat, lupins, canola and oats (depending on soil type) and supports sheep and Angus and Limousin cattle studs.

Mr Kupsch said the Agworld App platform had simplified crop management recommendations and input use and allowed the business to collect a range of data in a central location without repetition or double-entry.

“We are good at measuring and managing production data, but in the past have not necessarily been that effective at looking back on this information and seeing how we can improve year-to-year,” he said.

“With this system, we can easily see the break-down within paddocks and, in time, we will be able to make decisions for even more targeted input applications.”

Mr Kupsch said there were also real-time benefits during the crop growing season in having agronomic recommendations available immediately through the Agworld App, rather than getting emails that needed sorting or were lost in inboxes.

“We are getting efficiency in data management and doing budget and financial break-downs at the end of the year are very easy, rather than trying to correlate invoices to paddocks,” he said.

“In most cases, my recommendations are done in the paddock and emailed to the grower before I even leave the farm,” he said.

"With this system, we can easily see the break-down within paddocks and, in time, we will be able to make decisions for even more targeted input applications."

Generating value by using data instead of shiny tools.

McGregor Gourlay as an organisation used a legacy digital ag solution for their recommendations but was unable to turn this into an integrated approach across the company. They were at the same time looking for a way to provide more ability to forecast to their merchandise managers through increase visibility.

Improving an agronomist’s efficiency and transparency.

In his work as an agronomist, Ruaan Du Plessis realised that higher crop monitoring requirements combined with larger orchard sizes and an increased need for information by growers necessitated a new approach to data accessibility and transparency.

How financial visibility creates a clear pathway to the future

Nathan Soulsby needed to provide integrated agronomy service to BettaCrop clients, which includes their planning, budgeting, scouting and record keeping. Rolf Malmo was new to cropping and needed visibility into his financial performance that he could also take to his bank and other service providers.